


His Better Half

by Rosage



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22284028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosage/pseuds/Rosage
Summary: This isn’t the first night he and Ferdinand have lounged with separate books.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 8
Kudos: 125





	His Better Half

Hubert rarely sits up in bed. Either he works elsewhere, or he gets his minimum couple hours of rest. Still, this isn’t the first night he and Ferdinand have lounged with separate books, their ankles knocking and the air still.

The day’s summit buzzes as a cloud of gnats in his ears. Diplomacy is best left to his better half, with Hubert’s focus on a headache’s worth of security detail—but even he had to swoop in to deescalate when hotter heads butted, or to extract his emperor from presumptuous swarms. She ensured he had no mission that night, and he forewent coffee while preparing tea for her and Ferdinand’s throats.

Ferdinand still speaks hoarsely, voice quiet as if Hubert is listening in on a secret meeting between him and his text. Years before, in the monastery library, the habit got under Hubert’s skin; he already had to split his attention between his own studies and eavesdropping on Solon. Tonight, Hubert’s volume of Morfis Mysteries is a prop.

“Some say that if Zoltan had made gauntlets, other gauntlets would be more prized among collectors,” Ferdinand says. He jabs his finger at a paragraph. “Ah! But some theorize that he did, and they were lost for the same reason.”

Hubert watches from the corner of his eye, flipping a page he didn’t read. “Does evidence support either theory?”

“The gauntlets have never been uncovered, but there is precedence for Zoltan’s work influencing trends. For example, while axes have never been seen as the noblest weapon, they rose in usage after he crafted one that could crush heavy armor.”

Less so in Adrestia, where mages could just as easily slip past such defenses. Hubert may have pointed this out were his back not slouching against the headboard, his knuckles falling to rest against Ferdinand’s thigh. The gnats begin to quiet.

“I would love to at least see blueprints for a gauntlet made by the master craftsman. The mechanisms would be…” Ferdinand interrupts himself with a chuckle and pats Hubert’s hand. “You cannot really want to hear me prattle on. How is your book?”

It lies abandoned in Hubert’s lap. He sets it aside before it can crease.

“I would prefer to hear about the gauntlets,” Hubert says.

“That bad, hm? I could read to you, though I do not suppose this makes the best bedtime story.”

“I suppose I wouldn’t know.”

Silence lasts a beat before Ferdinand rests his head on Hubert’s shoulder, unbearably soft hair bending against Hubert’s cheek. He braces himself for wasted pity.

“Rumors of the gauntlets first sparked after another of his works was recovered from a thief’s den…”

Now that they’re not Ferdinand’s own words, Hubert ceases absorbing them. He has yet to lie down, but it is safe to close his eyes, so he does.


End file.
